Terrible Two's
by Phantom Rottweiler
Summary: Albedo is brainwashed to thinking he's a normal human four year old, but some memories are too strong to be ereased. Young Ben 10 story number 7.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Ben 10, Ben 10 Alien Force, or the characters Ben, Kevin, Gwen and Albedo. "Hmph!" I also am not making any profits from this; "Double hmph!"

SUMMARY: Albedo is brainwashed to thinking he's human as part of his 'release' program back into the universe.

"TERRIBLE TWO'S"

Four year old Ben and fifteen year old Gwen Tennyson along with sixteen year old Kevin Levin watched curiously as a four year old boy with white hair and red eyes played with a stack of building blocks in a separate room divided by a two way mirror. Standing behind the trio of alien battling heroes, an older man with thinning silver hair and a white lab coat chuckled watching as toddler Albedo accidentally toppled the structure followed by an aggravated groan.

"By all accounts, the transformation is a complete success. I still don't believe that only one month ago that was the same Albedo what wanted nothing more than your Omnitrix for his own diabolical plans..." the doctor glared down to Ben then back to the mirror "...now look at him. As tame as any four year old in the world; and all it took was a little cerebral cortex massaging and a fine amount of hypnosis to eradicate all those thoughts and get him to thinking that he's a normal human child"

"I still don't know doc'..." Gwen trailed off watching little Albedo starting another building with the toppled blocks "...it just doesn't feel right. What if something goes wrong? What if..."

"That's why we practically wiped every single memory of who he is and gave him new memories that, as far as he knows, are real" the doctor seemed to gleam at the accomplishments that he and his team were able to pull off. "Now; as of this moment you two..." he glared to Kevin and Gwen "...are legal guardians for Albedo, welcome to parenthood" he chuckled walking away leaving the three to exchange concerned and confused glares.

"Wait, if we're parents, then do we have to...?" Kevin nearly shrieked staring Gwen with massively large eyes.

_X_

The car ride was silent; Kevin drove, Gwen sat in the front passenger seat, Ben and Albedo rode in nearly identical car seats in the back of the vehicle; Albedo's attention remained transfixed on the passing scenery while Ben kept an unflinching glare upon the boy with white hair. Thoughts raged in Ben's mind as he stared at Albedo watching the scenery; several times before the trio made contact with young Albedo, Ben raised several concerns and problems with the whole idea, mainly about the Omnitrix. The one argument he had and remained absolutely steadfast on was the notion of taking in Albedo as Ben's twin brother and how he would not promote such disturbing notions.

"Are we therwe yet?" Albedo asked looking around.

"Nope" Kevin muttered switching lanes.

"Are we therwe yet?" Albedo again asked.

"Nope." This time Kevin sounded more annoyed with a grunt and not a mutter.

"Are we therwe..." Before Albedo could ask it yet again, Kevin turned his focus to the mirror on the windshield.

"No, no, no, nope no!"

"Kevin! Be nice" Gwen barked before an eerie silence fell upon the car.

"I have to go" Ben called out fidgeting in the seat doing everything possible to keep from spilling.

"You can wait till we get home, it's only another five minutes!" By now Kevin was almost barking mad with having to put up with two hyperactive four year old's in the same car as he.

"I have to go too" Albedo hollered out imitating Ben's actions. The gas pedal went to the floor; Kevin tightened his grip on the wheel as Gwen gripped the seat in one hand and the doorknob in the other. From the backseat, two separate child's voices squeed at the feeling of the abrupt speed change. Pulling into the driveway of his house, Kevin silently thanked every sentient being he could think of; reaching behind him, he then undid the belts of the car seats at the same time as Gwen opened her door and got out allowing a full exit. Kevin watched Albedo springing out of the car with Gwen up to the front door of the house, his attention then turned to Ben and a blank look on his face.

"Hey, Tennyson..." Kevin snapped his fingers a couple of times bringing Ben back to reality; in that very instant, a trickle of glittering tears crept from the brunets eyes then over the crest of his cheeks. "Ben, what's wrong?" Kevin asked concerned at the sight of young Ben crying.

"I-I..." Ben tried holding back the tears but to little avail, Kevin's glare fell upon the boys pants and immediately he saw what the problem was, it was then and only then that he noticed the smell, a pungent rancid distasteful smell that he was all too familiar with in the back alleys of New York where people – without care – relieved themselves in perhaps an animalistic way of marking territory.

"You did '_that_' in my car!" Kevin shrieked crining and bringing his hands to the sides of his face while curling his fingers in outright anger, astonishment and disbelief; this only lead to a complete emotional breakdown as Ben leapt from the car to run sobbing hysterically into the house.

Time passed silently as Kevin gathered the essentials for cleaning his car.

"Of all the stupid..." Kevin grumbled vigorously washing the backseat of his car with a damp rag in one hand and a tube of deodorizer in the other "...how one kid can..." his rubbing turned aggressive and sloppy "...the whole back...beyond me..."

SMACK!

"OW!" Kevin hollered out taken by the surprise of a defined strike to the back of his head, his eyes narrowed as he stood and turned to find Gwen standing with another palmed hand ready to strike again.

"What the hell were you thinking!" She put her hands on her hips as Kevin rubbed the back of his head. "Ben told you that he had to go so why didn't you just pull off to the side of the road and take them into the brush? There weren't any cars around so nobody would have seen anything...and isn't that what guys do? Relieve themselves in the most unlikely places and ways?"

"We were less than five minutes away, he should have been able to hold it..."

"But he didn't! So don't go yelling at him for messing up your precious car! You know what I've been doing for the past two hours!" with this Kevin merely shrugged "Trying to get him calmed down; you hurt him, Kevin, you really hurt him!"

_X_

Albedo slowly opened his eyes and glared around to the surroundings of the dark room; on a small nightstand a clock glowed pale green, at the opposite end of the bed, Ben slept soundly. Listening, Albedo found Kevin's house to be silent and still.

_'The cortex visualizer is running at peak efficiency'_

_'Transferring thought matrix processes from the merging dock'_

The Galvans mind raced; thousands of thoughts merged as one until everything came back in a flash; Albedo sat up with a twisted and crooked smile as he realized this was too perfect of a moment. Softly; silently; Albedo crept across the mattress until Ben was within arms reach; the white haired boy stopped long to make sure Ben was still sound asleep, sensing that he was, Albedo move in closer and closer. As stealthily as possible, Albedo slid the Omnitrix core from its holster around Ben's wrist, slipped off the bed and darted to the furthest corner. The boy laughed deviously as he slid the core into his own Omnitrix; a twist and a flicker; Albedo slapped his hand down much like Ben and waited.

SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. Albedo scrunched his eyebrows to towards his nose and glared down. SLAP SLAP SLAP. Another series of moves to activate the Omnitrix; another series of Albedo remaining Albedo.

"What the!" the boy asked fiddling with the device "Why is this not prwoducing the rwesults I desirwe?"

"Because it's a dud corwe." Albedo shot his glance up and straight out to find Ben standing arms crossed defiantly. Without warning, Ben and Albedo ran for each other only to collide and topple into the wall.

"Gimme the corwe!" Albedo demanded grabbing Ben by the shirt flinging him to the ground.

"NO!" Ben shouted using a move Gwen taught him as a teenager to knock the doppelganger off his feet causing him to stumble into the wall again. Before Albedo could regain his bearings, the overhead light clicked on after the door opened exposing Kevin in a pair of black shorts and a black sleeveless shirt standing with an equally disturbing glare.

"Hand me the corwe this instant!" Albedo yelled lunging as Ben did; before they realized it, Kevin reached down and gripped the back of their shirts lifting them five feet off the ground and as apart from the other as possible.

"Gimme!" Albedo hollered flinging his arms and legs hitting nothing but air.

"Gimme gimme neverw gets!" Ben retorted sarcastically giving the white haired boy a demented glare.

"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!" Kevin watched a pair of red and a pair of green eyes slowly turning to meet his deep brown eyes. "It's five in the morning, I just got to sleeping good and what happens? The terrible two's have a smack-down, that's what!" By now there was no hiding the anger in Kevin's voice as he stared the boys eye to eye sending shivers down their backs.

"He trwied to take my corwe!" Ben huffed struggling against gravity while holding an accusing finger to Albedo.

"He won't give me the corwe!" Albedo countered equally aggravated holding an identically accusing finger to Ben.

"I...don't...CARE!" Both boys drew back from Kevin's slowly building snapping tone; without warning, Kevin stomped from the spare room, through the house to the garage where he kept his most prized possession; he then dropped Ben onto a workbench "Stay!" His tone had the final note of authority as Ben remained in place. Kevin slammed his free hand against the trunk lid causing it to pop open, after which, he flung Albedo into the space and slammed the lid shut.

'_Let me out!_' Albedo hollered rapping against the inside of the trunk lid. Kevin rolled his eyes and let a deep snorting sigh.

_X_

"Here you go doc..." Kevin slung little Albedo into a computer chair with Gwen standing ready and Ben prepared for another fight "...one failed science experiment." Hearing this Albedo crossed his arms with a devious smirk.

"Well, we tried..." the doctor grunted rubbing the side of his head "...but at least we have a plan B." Albedo and the trio grew curious of what the plan was, without anyone uttering a lone syllable, the doctor snapped with his left hand. "Gentlemen?"

Two young men in pressed white uniforms wearing light purple latex gloves entered into the room; the first – the taller of the two – rushed and picked up Albedo in a way that the boy couldn't fight back; the other – the smaller of the two – uncapped a short needled syringe and approached. Albedo struggled in the taller mans arms as the trio watched backing away slowly, the boy cried out the moment the syringe poked his backside and continued crying as the entire cartridge emptied into the flesh of his rump.

"Ssshhhh, there there, all done now..." the man holding Albedo softly spoke and gently rubbed the side of the boys head as his body went limp. Albedo's cries softened to sobs quieting to gentle whimpers then to utter silence. Slowly and silently the two young men left taking Albedo with them.

"Wait. Stop!" Gwen demanded just after the two men left closing the door behind them. "What's going to happen to him?"

"He's going to a very safe place where he won't cause any trouble, he'll be constantly supervised and taken care of" the doctor spoke reassuringly.

"Yeah? Where's that?" Kevin asked.

_X_

Two men entered into a small room, the walls, floor, ceiling and door lined with thick padding; the taller of the two gently laid sleeping Albedo – now dressed in a light blue jumpsuit in the center of the room before backing out slowly and silently.

SQUEAK. CLICK-CLACK. The door shut and latched. Albedo unconsciously brought a fisted hand to his face and inserted the thumb of said hand into his mouth.

"Lock down cell D-5" a voice called out followed by an electrical buzzing of latches engaging.

* * *

A/N: Apologies if it feels jumpy in time and space. And the D-5 cell is a psychriatric holding cell, to prevent confusion. And as usual, four year olds talking explain the typo's in the dialogue.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: **see chapter one.

"TERRIBLE TWO'S"

Four year old Albedo sighed and turned away from a small plate of food that sat before him much as he had every other time in the past three days. Sitting beside Albedo was a younger woman with short blond hair and soft hazel eyes watching curiously and saddened at the boys actions.

"Albedo..." she spoke softly, the boy gave nothing more than a quick corner of the eye glare "...what's going on? You haven't eaten anything in three days; especially since it's chili-fries. And you haven't said anything about taking the Omnitrix. If something's wrong, you know you can tell me, right?" With this Albedo merely huffed and crossed his arms. "You know, you may have an superior intellect, but in this form, you bleed red just like the rest of us" she continued speaking while leaning back in the chair.

"Why does nobody like me?" Albedo asked staring the woman point blank with a curious and saddened glare; a tense moment of silence fell upon them once again before either said anything further.

"Well, a lot of it has to do with your attitude towards everything." Hearing this, Albedo still dressed in a light blue jumpsuit turned around far enough to face her. "Think about it. All you ever wanted is the Omnitrix and you let nothing stand in your way of obtaining it, not really the best of ways to impress people."

"Fearw worwks betterw!"

"Maybe for you, but most humans aren't like that; some people can be forced into submission by fear and brute force, while others let their guard down when you gain their trust. Just remember, to make a friend, you have to be a friend."

"What does it feel like? To have _frwiends_? A family?" A streak of glittering tears escaped Albedo's eyes as he desperately tried to brush them away with the sleeve of the one-piece-uniform. "I-I'm leaking...why am I leaking-is this forwm brwoken?"

"Those are called tears, and they are an involuntary response to something sad and emotional."

"I do not like this; make it stop!"

_X_

"KEB-INNNNN!" Four year old Ben screamed jumping up and down arms flailing trying to reach a small stuffed bear that Kevin held high above his head.

"You want it, you gotta work for it." Kevin chuckled with a devious grin; deep down, part of him felt shamed for doing this, but another part of him was enjoying the hell out of it.

"Gimme Furrwy Frweddy!"

"Gimme-gimme never gets."

"KEBIN!" Ben yelled even louder almost on the verge of throwing a tantrum – the coming event indicated by little Ben's face turning a deep red with a slight trickle of tears cresting his cheeks. Kevin instantly ceased his cackling laughter the moment a swift strike struck the back of his head; lowering his arm and the toy and turning back, he found Gwen with arms crossed and a pissed look on her face.

"Real mature..." she hissed snatching the stuffed toy from his hands and giving it to Ben whom took it holding it against his chest with both arms over it. Both Ben and Gwen stared at Kevin.

"What...!" the raven black haired teen asked drawing his shoulders upwards "Jeeze, can't have some fun with the squirt?"

"There is a fine line between fun and torture! And stop mocking his size, he's only at the capacity of a four year old but his mind is still at the age of fifteen...which is better than being sixteen and acting like a four year old..." Gwen silenced herself and glared around, surely her last comment would have had Ben rolling in laughter yet utter silence filled the living room with Ben still standing arms crossed. In the silence, a faint ringing echoed; Kevin reached into his pocket and pulled out a titanium cellphone.

"Yo." his response was formal yet relaxed at the same time. Gwen and Ben listened intently to a muffled voice coming from the speaker. "Uh hunh, yeah, we'll be there." With this Kevin ended the call and switched the phone for a set of car keys. "That was Doc, he said that Albedo wants to talk to us...mainly Ben."

"About what?" Gwen narrowed her glare questioningly.

"I dunno." Kevin shrugged and walked to the garage where he kept his car under lock and key.

_X_

Ben sat at a metal table across from Albedo; Kevin and Gwen stood behind Ben as Doc and a couple of his lackeys stood behind Albedo. Ben eyed Albedo in his blue jumpsuit then to faded white cinder block walls; over them, pale lights glowed giving everything eerie shadows. Albedo gently slipped his hands from his and onto the table, in response, Ben pulled his arm back in a motion to protect the Omnitrix.

"Don't worrwy Ben; I don't carwe forw the Omnitrwix." Albedo lowered his glare to the glistening tabletop, Ben tilted his head to the side.

"What do you want then?"

"A family...a frwiend..." Albedo's voice lowered into a mere mumble as a streak of tears escaped his red eyes. Little Ben's heart sank seeing honest sincerity in Albedo's eyes as he brought up his sleeved arm to wipe the tears.

"You want a frwiend?" Ben repeated Albedo's last word unsure he heard it correctly. The albino boy nodded. "I-I don wanna..." Albedo trailed off fighting the urge to fall into a fit of sadness.

"You don't want what?" Gwen asked cautiously leaning over the table using her arms for support. Albedo glared to her with a quivering jaw and a face turning pink.

"To be alone!"

Silence. Ben lowered his eyebrows into a thoughtful expression before looking at Kevin then Gwen and finally Doc and his assistants. With that one look from Ben, Gwen knew he was cooking up something. "What if he took my place at home, with my parents?" Everyone instantly turned their glares directly to Ben. "So that way, he'll have someone looking after him and he can have a fresh start."

"You're crazy Tennyson!" Kevin crossed his arms. "You know what he's capable of and yet you suggest such a stupid idea. You know how dangerous that is?"

"Ben's got a point though..." Gwen interjected "...I mean, look at you. We know what you're capable of but your still on the team."

"That's cold, Gwen! Like frigid arctic ice-maiden cold!"

"Will...will they..._like_ me?" Albedo looked into Ben's eyes with hope and a hint of skepticism.

"My folks arwe hippies, of curwse they'll like you." Ben smiled knowing how easy going his parents were.

_X_

"Mom, dad, I'm home and I brwought company." Ben called out following Kevin into the living room of Ben's home. Behind them, Gwen held Albedo's hand as they walked inside to find Carl and Sandra sitting on the couch – Carl reading the paper and Sandra flipping through a gardening magazine. "I've got a frwiend that needs help." Ben approached and sat next to his father on the couch, Gwen lead Albedo to the other end of the couch where she sat down bringing him into her lap.

"Okay..." Carl muttered glancing between Ben and Albedo with a confused glare.

"Albedo is looking to be parwt of a family, and since he doesn't have his own, I figurwed why not brwing him into ourws." Ben smiled as cute as possible; Carl sighed and Sandra brought a tuft of hair from her face.

"Ben..." Sandra sighed. "...I don't know if we can. Money's kind of tight as it is and with another mouth to feed..." she trailed off looking back as Kevin came back from the kitchen with a sandwich in his hands. "I'm just not sure."

"Mom..." Ben wined "...he's a frwiend that needs help." Ben whined even more causing Albedo to give him a questioning glare of hope.

"Well, how could we pass him off as one of our own?" Carl asked glaring over the boy with white hair, his red eyes closed as his head nestled into crevice of Gwen's shoulder. Kevin snapped and swallowed a mouthful of food.

"Why don't you call him your Alpine-o twin brother?"

"_Albino_." Gwen corrected him looking down to find Albedo slipping off to sleep. Sandra stood and motioned for Gwen to follow her down the hall to a spare room. Once in the quiet space, Gwen gently laid Albedo onto a small bed in the center of the room followed promptly with Sandra drawing a blanket over him.

"He is kinda cute though..." Sandra whispered sweeping a tuft of hair from the boys face before turning her attention back to Gwen. "Just like when Ben sleeps. I honestly don't know how we're going to do it, but..." she trailed off and smirked "...but we'll do what we can."

_X_

The house was dark; quiet. In the early morning hours, Albedo awoke and glared around to the dark room where he slept. Across the hall, Ben slept soundly, further down the hall, Carl and Sandra slept quietly. Albedo took the blanket in his grip and drew it over his shoulder as he rolled onto his side. He slowly closed his eyes and listened to the silence of the home, a faint smile crept across his face as he remembered his first official day of living with the Tennyson's.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, this one officially sucks big time and I apologize for it. Lost where I was going with it and just wanted to hurry and finish it! And mis-spellings in dialogue are once again intentional.


End file.
